Unwanted Change
by NaturallyNatural
Summary: When unwanted change suddenly rears its ugly head in Amu's life, will she go with the change, or try desperately to hold on to what she has always known? How will her decision be influenced by a mother who is never around anymore and an old friend she has not heard from in over a month? In the end, it's not how dramatic the change itself, but how dramatic the response is to it.


Hinamori Amu didn't mind wearing black. In fact, the color looked rather nice on her, and went well especially with her pink hair. But today it was just a terrible reminder as to how much can change in the matter of years, months, and days.

Amu was now a sixteen year old sophomore in high school, and though the years flown by, they were still enjoyable for the most part. She still had her friends, was doing well in school, and anxiously watched Utau's career reach a higher level of pop stardom. She got invited to parties, sat backstage at every local concert, and even managed Utau now and again (when she could handle her). Needless to say, Amu had a life that every teenage girl could hope for. That was until a few days ago.

Now, Amu looked in the mirror at herself and is disgusted by what she sees. She is dressed in black, mournful black. Her laced black long sleeved blouse somehow didn't match with her skinny dress pants and simple flats. Her pink hair stood out from all this, so she decided to just leave it down. Today wasn't about her, and she didn't want to draw any more attention to herself than what will be. She sighed, took one last look in the mirror and headed out of her bedroom and down the hall.

"Amu-chan?" a tiny voice called out. Amu stopped and turned to see her charas catching up to her. She forgot to tell them she was leaving. "Yes?" she said softly. Ran, Miki, Su, and Dia surrounded her, and gave her a sympathetic look, all afraid to ask her what was on their minds. Su however, being the motherly type that she is decided to ask in order to make sure Amu was okay.  
"Are you alright, desu?" Amu sighed, not knowing how to answer that. So she simply shrugged.  
"I don't know." And with that, the five of them continued down the stairs to the kitchen.

As Amu, her mom, and her charas hoped in the back seat of an unfamiliar black car and rode down unfamiliar streets, Amu was continuously checking her phone. She received a message from Utau saying, "I will meet you there shortly." Amu didn't respond. She didn't need any more reminders of where she was going today and what the purpose was. Amu's charas sat on her shoulders and in her lap, but she still felt cold. She checked her phone again. "Amu-chan," her mother's voice calmly called to her. Amu looked at her, but her mother's expression was cold and she would not even to turn to talk to her daughter. "I don't want to see you on that phone for the rest of the day, do you understand me?" Amu looked down at her hands and reluctantly closed the phone.  
"Yes Mama."

The Car eventually stopped outside of a Shinto Temple, but before Amu got out of the car, she looked to her charas, who all gave her a big hug. She looked around, looking for Utau and spotted her on a bench outside of the temple. She quickly got out of the car and ran over to Utau, who greeted her with open arms. Amu bit back tears as Utau simply held Amu, stroking her hair and telling her how sorry she was. She pulled away, not letting a single tear fall. If she hasn't cried yet, then she will not cry today. Ms. Hinamori was the first into the temple, and Amu and Utau were soon to follow.

Inside, the ladies were greeted by "my condolences" and "they went too soon." They were nice gestures of mourning, but it did not help the situation at hand. Amu and her mom did not talk, the entire time. Whenever someone gave their grief, they merely nodded. Utua stood by Amu, and gave her an occasional hug of support. Amu was happy to have Utau along, because frankly, no one else was available.

Everyone in Seyjo High School was organized to go on a two week trip before school started, but because of the unplanned catastrophe, Amu gave up her spot on the trip at the last minute. Not even telling her friends why she wasn't able to attend. Utau was the only one around who had seen the news, and was the only one who was aware of Amu's loss. Now, she stood by her side, wanting to be supportive of her friend. Amu was grateful for the support, but wasn't sure how strong she could be once she faced the two caskets up at the front of the temple. She sighed, knowing it would soon be time to go see them.

While the line of mourners slowed down, Amu took the time to talk to Utau. She nudged her arm to get her attention "Hey, Utau." Utau turned towards her.  
"Yes, Amu?" Amu turned to Utau with an expressionless face that was sad, yet serious.  
"Do not mention to anyone about the events that have taken place the past few days, okay?" Utau didn't quite understand.  
"Why? Our friends will want to know, they're already worried and wondering why you're not on the trip. Let them mourn with you and support you." Amu shook her head.  
"That's just it, I don't need their sympathy. I'll work this out on my own and tell them when I'm ready." Utau sighed, but decided to respect her friend's wishes. It was bad enough the poor girl lost her dad and little sister; she needed all the support that she could get.  
"Okay Amu," Utau said grabbing her hand in a caring fashion, "I won't say anything to anyone." Amu simply looked to her with tears in her eyes, returned Utau's grip, and mouthed a thank you.

When the service ended and everything was said and done, Amu went back up front of the temple alone to say her final goodbyes to her father and little sister. They looked so peaceful. Laying there, almost looking as if they were sleeping. Amu turned to her father, thinking she had never seen him so handsome before. He wore a suite and tie, looking so dasher. She reached in the casket to touch his cleanly shaved face. So cold. She then turned turns Ami. It was a shame that the girl would never see her sixth birthday and such a beauty too. Amu sighed, "She was supposed to break boys' hearts one day, but instead she is now breaking mine." With one final stroke of Ami's cheek, Amu turned and left the temple, ready to head home and begin a changed life. 

As days went by, Amu noticed that life itself wasn't going to get any easier, at least not for a while. After a while, Amu and her mother needed to start packing. Their house was incredibly too big for just the two of them, and Ms. Hinamori believed a fresh start would be good for the both of them. A lot of things were sold, such as Ami's child set themed room, her stuffed animals, and her father's belongings too. Everything was gone except for one of Ami's favorite stuffed animals, a stuffed elephant, and her father's old university sweatshirt and baseball cap. Though those things were either incredibly too big or childish, Amu decided it would be her way of keeping them close.

The small family's new place was not a home, but an apartment. It had the scheme of motel, with parking lot as the front yard, viewable entrances of the upstairs and downstairs front door and windows, and a small community garden in the back. Though Amu had not yet seen the apartment, she already had the preconceived notion that she would not like it. Apartments seemed less open, colder, and lonlier than regular houses. She was afraid of being left alone, especially during a time like this.

Amu looked around her room one last time, and felt sick at the emptiness apparel. She then checked her phone and sighed when she noticed she hadn't received a single message or alert. Miki floated by her shoulder. Nothing got by her. "Amu-chan, why do you keep on looking at your phone? Who are you expecting a message from?" Amu looked at the chara who sat on her shoulder with sad eyes.  
"Ikuto.." she said. "I haven't heard from him in a while, and I guess I just want some sort of my old life back." Miki nodded.  
"I guess finding his dad while being a well-known violinist is hard work." Miki stated. Amu thought hard about his statement. Miki was right; it was selfish of Amu to want Ikuto around when he was busy looking for his father and making others and himself happy with his music. She couldn't take that away from him, just because she wanted a bit of her old life back. Amu quickly sent out a message before looking around her room one last time, and heading downstairs to the moving truck.

Across town, while Utau was sitting in during editing, she heard her phone chime. When she saw it was Amu texting her, she opened the message right away, only to find a message that said: "Don't tell Ikuto." 


End file.
